Anders Behring Breivik was found sane and sentenced to 21 years in prison today for a bloodbath that left 77 people dead. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

The verdict delivered today at the trial of mass murderer Anders Breivik shows that the Norwegian court has more sense than the Norwegian state. By declaring him sane and convicting him as a terrorist, they have hopefully paved the ground for a political understanding of those shocking events on 22 July last year.

Contrary to what might be perceived outside Norway, this verdict is the strongest that could be passed down by the judicial system here and is in line with our common sense of justice in two ways. First of all, this verdict will not limit his imprisonment to 21 years. He will be kept imprisoned for as long as he is seen as a danger to society and thus it is very unlikely that Breivik will ever walk the streets of Norway again.

Second, this verdict declares him responsible for his actions. This is significant. The major debate in Norway throughout the case has been about the initial psychiatric report and prosecution calling for Breivik to be considered insane. The bombing of government buildings and subsequent massacre at Utøya were planned for years, and the murders done in cold blood. If Breivik was found criminally insane, it would be difficult to see how a Norwegian court could ever could find a terrorist of his kind responsible for their actions. It is therefore a relief to see that the question of insanity has been addressed.

This verdict is also the end of a long trial process far too focused on Breivik's persona, and to little on the social and political climate that created him. By prosecuting on insanity, the state asked "Who is Anders Behring Breivik", and to answer that question every little piece of his personal history became important. But in a political and social context, this is an indifferent question. People such as Breivik have always existed.. But the actions they take and the way they are formed differs from society to society. The question is not who Breivik is, but why he became a rightwing extremist, an anti-feminist, anti-Marxist and a racist.

During the court case, he sounded more and more like a traditional fascist or neo-nazi. His mistrust of democracy, his conservative, Christian views on family, gender and religion, his xenophobia and his belief in violent force could have been copied from any European country from the 1930s. These ideas appear to have been revived under the banner of a critique of Islam and "anti-elitism" around Europe over the last few decades, and Norway is no exception.

If Breivik had been from Afghanistan, Iraq or Nigeria, we would have asked what it was within these countries and cultures that made him a terrorist. But during this trial, too few have asked about whether there is anything within Norway and its white upper class that produced Breivik.

Norway has an image of itself as a place of no evil. This is the reason why it has been so difficult to face up to the political aspects of Breivik's terror. Blame has been siphoned on to an individual's psychology, the police and, in the end, the Norwegian government, but seemingly less on the political wave Breivik's ideas feed on. At the same time as the largest Norwegian newspaper has called for the prime minister's resignation, Breivik's ideological compatriots, such as the blogger "Fjordman" and the Norway Defence League find themselves having easier access to the media.

Personally I would have no objection to Breivik being put to death in a public square for the atrocity of his crimes. But on the day of this verdict, I am also proud to live in a country where my want for revenge does not define the judicial system. Breivik has been sentenced in accordance with Norwegian law as it is, and in the end this law was also able to hold him responsible for his actions. Hopefully this verdict marks the end of the Breivik trial in Norway and the beginning of a process where we can instead examine our society and find out why he was created from within our midst.